Treating suspected tapeworm

[Autumn Feathers]

Hello! I am a fairly new owner of chickens and suspect that at least one of my two hens has tapeworms. She had diarrhoea for around a week, I started putting apple cider vinegar in the water as I heard that can help and then started noticing rice like fragments in her poop. The diarrhea was quite bad at first, very mushy and on one occasion I saw the hen poop out watery white liquid as well. Since giving them the ACV her diarrhoea seems to be much better, her poop looks normal under the roost but have still noticed the white fragments on and off during the day. Googling the issue led me to believe that she may have tapeworms. I rang a pet shop that specialises in birds and explained my problem. They suggested worming her with an all purpose wormer first and see how that goes and if it doesn't work then I could try with something for the tapeworms which would be a much stronger product. Well I used the all purpose wormer on Wednesday (3 days ago) and still seeing the fragments in her poop. I am thinking to try a wormer that targets the tapeworms but is it too soon to dose them? I only have two hens, is it better to do both of them? I can't really separate them and I think I need to withhold their feed for 24 hours which seems like a really long time but I want to make sure I do it right. I am in Australia and will be using Avitrol Plus tablets. Thanks in advance.

 

[dawg53]

Yes, withhold feed for 24 hours, water is fine. Withholding feed weakens the worms making the wormer more effective eliminating the worms. Worm both your birds. Avitrol Plus contains Levamisole which takes care of all types of roundworms. It also contains Praziquantel which will kill the tapeworms.
Dose each bird orally, that way you know they got properly wormed.
It's best to worm them early in the morning, then wait 2 hours before feeding them.
Your birds will be starving afterwards, only feed them a little at a time, and gradually increase their feed back to normal throughout the day. If you dont, they will gorge the feed which can possibly cause impacted crop or gizzard.
Re-dose your birds again in 10-14 days, same procedures as above.

 

[Autumn Feathers]

Thanks so much dawg53! Do you think it is ok to go ahead with the Avitrol Plus now given that the other wormer also had Levamisole in it? It was only 3-4 days ago that they had a dose of that one.

 

[dawg53]

Yes, go ahead and give them the Avitrol Plus. I just got through worming my birds with Levamisole. I redose every other day for a total of 3 days.
For tapeworms, I use either Equimax or Zimecterin Gold equine paste containing praziquantel. You're lucky to have Avitrol Plus.

 

[Autumn Feathers]

Thanks so much again dawg53! Fingers crossed that the worms go away and stay away!

 

[dawg53]

Thanks so much again dawg53! Fingers crossed that the worms go away and stay away!

Just keep in mind that insects are the hosts for tapeworms. Control the insects as best as you can and you'll control tapeworm infections in your birds.

 

[Autumn Feathers]

Just keep in mind that insects are the hosts for tapeworms. Control the insects as best as you can and you'll control tapeworm infections in your birds.

Yes I am planning on giving the coop a good clean and moving it away from the current area. I hope it is not the flies that the infected chicken is eating. They seem to be congregating around the coop lately, maybe due to the warmer weather. Will look at getting some traps or deterrents. Thanks again for all your helpful suggestions!

 

[Autumn Feathers]

So I wormed them this morning with the Avitrol Plus. Within half an hour one had laid an egg (she was actually in the nesting box laying when I came down to worm them). Would this egg be safe to eat or best to bin them all for 10 days? Is there anything I can do with the eggs, e.g. throw them in the compost, put the shells in the garden etc?

 

[dawg53]

The egg that was laid is okay to eat. Levamisole has a 9 day withdrawal period. Generally, praziquantel has a 2 week withdrawal period.
So, 14 days after the last dosing should be good enough. If you discard them, dont let your chickens eat the eggs.

 

[Autumn Feathers]

Hi dawg53, many thanks again! The manufacturer advised 10 days but I'll do the 4 extra as you have suggested. So almost a month after the second dose! I hate to throw the eggs but hope that the shells can at least be useful in the garden. Looking forward to having the chickens back to full health again!